Senior Moments

John Emery Adams, Jr., in December, 1938. He was 26 years old.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

My Dad, John Emery Adams, Jr., passed away on December 5, 2013.  He was 101 years old.

It’s hard to know how to summarize a life, especially a life that encompassed so much.  Dad was born in Texas, grew up in Arkansas, lived in Indiana for many years before moving to Tennessee.  He remembered going to church with his family in a horse-drawn wagon, as well as the first house his family lived in which had electricity.

Dad met Mom when he was in the CCC in southern Indiana.  The picture above was one he had made for Mom as a Christmas present in 1938.  However, they had to wait until 1940 to get married, since Mom’s parents said she couldn’t get married until she was 20 years old.  They got married three days after her birthday.  There wedding was simple — they asked the congregation of Mom’s church to stay after Sunday service and attend the wedding.  They left right afterwards for their new home in northern Indiana, and shared a carton of milk as their first meal as husband and wife.

Mom and Dad on their 61st wedding anniversary, Hendersonville, Tennessee. May 5, 2001.

One of the most remarkable things about Mom and Dad is that you rarely saw one without the other.  This picture was taken on their 61st wedding anniversary in 2001.  Mom is wearing her wedding dress.

Dad at my uncle’s home in Crown Point, Indiana.

I remember that Dad had a love of gadgets and was always trying to figure out (usually successfully) how things worked.  This picture, taken about 1960, shows him with his new movie camera.  He got a computer at the age of 90 and exchanged daily emails with us until he lost his sight and had to give it up.

I always thought Dad could do anything.  He built most of the house in which I grew up, as well as the farm buildings we had.  If something broke, he usually managed to fix it.  He taught himself to repair small appliances so he would have something to do after he retired.  He repaired appliances until Mom made him quit when he was 80 years old.  We still meet people in Hendersonville, Tennessee, who talk about what a wonderful job he did as a repair man.

Dad and his riding lawn mower. Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Although Dad was still climbing up on the roof of his home to clean the gutters well into his 90s, he did decide that pushing a lawn mower over their large yard was a bit much, so he got a riding mower.

Front row: Betsy, Dad, Bonnie (my brother’s wife). Back row: Me, my sister Janet, and brother Ken.

Mom died in 2011, so she wasn’t there to celebrate Dad’s 100th birthday in 2012.  We had a party for him at his church in Hendersonville, and many family and friends came to help him celebrate.  This picture of Dad was taken at that party.

We had a celebration of Dad’s life yesterday (Monday).  I’m going to miss him.